Experiences of Gender Socialization

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Gender Socialization There are several experiences in my life that I feel contributed to my gender socialization. Sociologists describe gender socialization as the process of learning the social expectations and attitudes associated with one’s sex. In this paper, I will discuss a few ways in which my gender socialization has been influenced throughout my life. I have been learning how to be a socially accepted young man from my parents, friends, educational institutions, etc. since day one. Growing up with my family quickly indicated to me that boys and girls share very different gender roles. Also, attending public schools throughout my entire life reinforced those ideas. Lastly, my experience in the work force displayed to me the different responsibilities men and women have to deal with on a daily basis because of their gender. All of my life, I have had several different examples effecting my gender socialization. In retrospect, my family actually played a huge role in socializing me. Wharton (2012) suggests that parents are actually the most important agent of socialization. Whether it’s intentional or not, parents’ actions do have repercussions on a child’s social learning. I grew up with a little sister and I quickly adapted to the idea that boys and girls are treated differently. A good example of this is when my sister and I would play, she would get hurt a lot of the time and my parents would absolutely baby her if that ever happened. However, if I were to sustain an injury my mom or dad would simply tell me to brush it off and be a man. This is a perfect example of what Wharton calls a “gender-typed behavior” (Wharton 2012: 39). It didn’t just come down to how they treated us differently because of our gender, though. I learned that girls also play with different toys, wear different clothes and act differently as well. All of those ideas were

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